OK, guys help me out. I have a leaky wheel and I can't figure it out.
For a while I've been running Stan's tape and sealant with a generic valve. The thing holds air well enough for one ride but the next day it will be down 10-15 pounds. I've lived with it for a while but today I decided to change it up.
I wasn't convinced the wheel tape was good because it just didn't seem like it was sticking when I put it on. So instead, I tried some Gorilla tape like I've heard. I cut it to the proper rim width, ran a good overlap, and filled up my tire. The thing went flat in less than a half hour, so I tried again with more overlap. Flat again. I sprayed some soapy water on the valve stem and all the spokes and it's bubbling by the valve, so I chucked the valve and bought a Stan's valve. Unwrapped all the tape and went with a fresh, double-wrap of new product, installed the new valve and aired it up. Still no good!
I've spent 4 hours in the garage today trying to get this thing together and it's like I'm cursed. I've been trying to figure out what can possibly be wrong, and all I can think of are the following possibilities:
1) The old valve was leaky and the brand new one is too (unlikely);
2) The Gorilla Tape allows air through it. (Is this possible? It's much stickier and I took immense caution to put it down flat and tight. There's no way air is getting around it.)
3) The rim profile is somehow bent and doesn't allow for a flat seal. This seems like the most likely, but it doesn't look out of round or anything. The wheels are about 6 months old (came with the new bike,) and I've never damaged them.
4) Air is getting around the tape and getting past one or more of the internal spoke holes, then finding its way out at the valve stem. (Again, I put two wraps of Gorilla tape down and it's on flat & tight. I don't think this is happening.)
5) The interface between the valve stem and the inner rim isn't sealing. Right now I'm running the rubber seal on top of the tape instead of cutting the tape and running rubber against metal. Is that OK?
SO, what's going on? I don't want to run tubes again. HELP!!!